How much compensation for a delayed UK to Saudi Arabia flight?
£520 each, if you land 3 hours or more late
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Flights between the UK and Saudi Arabia are worse than most of the 71 countries the UK flies to most for 3-hour delays.
- Flights a year
- 8,190
- Routes tracked
- 8
- Land 3 hrs or more late
- 90a year
Last 12 months, CAA data
What you're owed
£520each if you land 3 hours or more late
Every route the CAA tracks between the UK and Saudi Arabia falls in the same distance band (Over 3,500 km), so a delay of 3 hours or more pays a flat £520 each if the flight left the UK (€600 under EU261 if it left Saudi Arabia instead and the airline was a UK or EU carrier). Find your route below.
| Route | 3 hours or more pays |
|---|---|
| Heathrow → Riyadh | £520each |
| Heathrow → Jeddah | £520each |
| Gatwick → Jeddah | £520each |
| Manchester → Jeddah | £520each |
| Gatwick → Medina | £520each |
| Birmingham → Jeddah | £520each |
| Heathrow → Dammam | £520each |
| Gatwick → Neom Bay | £520each |
All 8 tracked UK ↔ Saudi Arabia routes, sorted by yearly flight volume. Figures are each; the EU version of the law pays €600 for the same band.
The figure is payable only when the delay was within the airline's control. A technical fault, a crew shortage or a late inbound aircraft all count; genuinely extraordinary circumstances such as severe weather or an air traffic control restriction do not.
How bad is it
Do flights between the UK and Saudi Arabia get delayed a lot?
Yes, more than most. They're worse than most of the 71 countries the UK flies to most, with 1.1% of flights landing 3 or more hours late.
That works out at about 90 flights a year crossing the 3-hour line, which is the point the airline has to pay.
When is it worst?
March 2026, when flights between the UK and Saudi Arabia ran an average of 29.9 minutes late.
See all the numbers for Saudi Arabia
In the last 12 months, 8,190 flights operated between the UK and Saudi Arabia: 71.1% ran within 15 minutes of schedule, and 1.1% were 3 or more hours late, roughly 90 flights' worth of eligible passengers in a year. The CAA's figures don't separate arrivals from departures, so this covers the corridor both ways.
Flights are landing on time less often than last year: 71.1% ran on time against 73.5% in the twelve months before, and the average delay rose from 17.6 to 18.8 minutes.
Flights (12mo)
8,190
On time
71.1%
▼ 2.4pts vs last year
Avg delay
18.8 min
▲ 1.2 min vs last year
3 hours or more late
1.1%
Cancelled
2.8%
Saudi Arabia, month by month
Worst month: March 2026, averaging 29.9 minutes.
Busiest routes between the UK and Saudi Arabia
| UK airport | Destination | 3 hours or more pays |
|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | Riyadh | £520each |
| Heathrow | Jeddah | £520each |
| Gatwick | Jeddah | £520each |
| Manchester | Jeddah | £520each |
| Gatwick | Medina | £520each |
| Birmingham | Jeddah | £520each |
| Heathrow | Dammam | £520each |
| Gatwick | Neom Bay | £520each |
Where you fly from
UK airports flying to Saudi Arabia
| Airport | 3 hours or more late | Landed on time |
|---|---|---|
| Heathrow | 1.1% | 75.0% |
| Gatwick | 1.3% | 57.3% |
| Manchester | 0.7% | 67.4% |
| Birmingham | 1.7% | 68.9% |
Who flies there
Airlines flying between the UK and Saudi Arabia
| Airline | 3 hours or more late | Landed on time |
|---|---|---|
| Saudi Arabian Airlines | 1.4% | 71.0% |
| British Airways | 0.1% | 79.1% |
| Wizz Air | 1.4% | 53.9% |
| Virgin Atlantic | 0.4% | 80.7% |
| Riyadh Air | 0.7% | 83.6% |
| Gulf Air | 3.2% | 49.6% |
Your rights
Your rights on this corridor
Every flight leaving the UK for Saudi Arabia is covered by UK law, whichever airline operates it. Flights the other way, landing in the UK from Saudi Arabia, are covered too if a UK or EU airline operated them; a return flight on a non-UK, non-EU carrier falls outside it, though the Montreal Convention and Saudi Arabia's own rules may still give you a claim. See the full breakdown on the 3-hour rule. Cancelled instead of delayed? Broadly the same amounts apply under different conditions. See cancelled flight compensation.
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Source: UK Civil Aviation Authority punctuality statistics, July 2025 to June 2026. Analysis by CheckFlightCompensation; the CAA is credited as the data source as its publication conditions require. Figures cover the 25 largest UK airports. Methodology and limitations.